COAL TOWNSHIP - The board of commissioners are cracking down on people taking advantage of parking restriction loopholes.
At Thursday night's regular meeting, the five-member board unanimously approved advertising a new ordinance that would amend a 2009 ordinance prohibiting the storage of abandoned and junked motor vehicles on private and public property and limiting the parking of oversized and recreational vehicles.
People were "bouncing around" to skirt the 72-hour time period the commissioners were allowing the larger vehicles to be parked on the street during the summer, said solicitor Vince Rovito.
Owners would keep a vehicle parked in one spot for 72 hours and then move it to a different spot on the street, he said.
In the new set of rules, residents can only keep their vehicles on the street for purposes of maintenance, repairs, cleaning and/or loading/unloading within a 72-hour window.
They're also expanding the parking season from April 1 to Sept. 15 to April 1 to Nov. 1.
Salt to the city
The township unanimously approved ratification of a Jan. 24 action to order 91.17 tons of road salt on the township's account and provide it to the city of Shamokin in return for the city's eventual payment of $5,195.78.
The township loaned the city the salt Monday since it was low on material and couldn't get any credit with road salt distributors.
Both Commissioner Craig Fetterman and Gene Welsh reiterated the township's stance from earlier this week, saying the township acted due to an emergency situation.
Fetterman previously said many township motorists, school buses and emergency vehicles must drive through the city.
The city has an estimated $800,000 in unpaid bills that piled up at the end of 2013 for which city council continues to pursue a loan to pay them off.